r^ 






61ST Congress, 

^d Session 



GRESS, ) 

ion. ) 



SENATE. 



Report 
No. 441. 



SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 



March 23, 1910. — Ordered to be printed. 



Mr. Dixon, from the Committee on Conservation of National Resources, 
submitted the following 

REPORT. 

[To accompany S. 7242.] 

The Committee on Conservation of National Resources having had 
under consideration the bill (S. 7242) to protect the seal fisheries of 
Alaska, and for other purposes, beg leave to report the same with the 
recommendation that it pass with certain slight amendments. 

After extensive hearings, covering every phase of the fur-seal ques- 
tion, your committee is of the unanimous opinion that unless legisla- 
tion is had immediately the final extermination of the fur-seal in 
American waters will be an accomplished fact within the next two or 
three years. The present lease to the North American Commercial 
Company will expire April 30, 1910. The committee believes that 
the provisions of the present leasing law are mandator}^, and unless 
remedial legislation is had before April 30 of this year the United 
States Government will be compelled, under the law, to execute a new 
lease, either to the present lessees or to some other company, and that 
with the execution of such lease the final chapter in the history of the 
fur-seal will have been written. The committee feels that the present 
situation is a critical one and can not too strongly urge the necessity 
for immediate action. The climatic conditions existing in these 
Alaskan waters make the Pribilof Islands the natural home of the fur 
seal. They are situated about 2,000 miles from Seattle b}" the most 
direct route, and are isolated from other land, the nearest point to the 
south being Unalaska Island, at a distance of 214 miles. The islands 
constituting the Pribilof group, which are of volcanic origin, are five 
in number. 

St. Paul and St. George islands are the only ones of importance, 
the others being small islets and uninhabited. Following the discov- 
ery of these islands, settlements were at once made thereon by the 
Russians. The killing of the fur seal by the Russians from the year 
1786 until 1835 reduced the fur-seal herd to a little in excess of 4,000. 
In 1835 a closed season of ten j^ears was established. This resulted in 



/O 



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2 SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 

a gradual rehabilitation of the Pribilof seal herd. From 1850 until 
these islands were acciuircd by the United States, the killing* of 'the 
male seals only was permitted under strict regulations of the Russian 
Government, with the result that at the time of our acquisition of these 
islands in 1867 it was estimated that there were about 4,000,000 fur 
seals on the Pribilof Islands. In 1870 the United States adopted the 
leasing system in regard to the fur seal. During the twentj'-year 
period of the first lease, in 1870, 100,000 young male seals were killed 
annually. It was estimated that so late as 1885 the fur-seal herd 
approximated about 2,000,000 animals. In 1905 the number had been 
reduced to about 200,000. The estimate of the present number of 
seals on these islands ^■aries from 30,000 to 140,000. Last season the 
catch of male seals on these islands under the lease expiring April 30 
was a little in excess of 14,000 male seals. 

THE FUR SEAL AS A REVENUE PRODUCER. 

It is estimated by the government officials that the revenue to the 
United States Government from 1870 to 1S90 from the fur-seal indus- 
try turned into the Treasurv an income of $5,981,036.50. Since 1890, 
under the present leasing system and the rapid diminution of the seal 
herd, owing to the catch on land and to pelagic sealing, the Govern- 
ment has probably paid out for patrolling the waters, in the pay of 
its agents and in the maintenance of the natives who live on these 
islands, more than $1,000,000 in excess of the revenue formerly 
derived from this industry. Your committee is of the opinion that if 
a closed season could be established for the islands themselves and 
pelagic sealing could l)e prohibited for a period of ten years that the 
Pribilof Islands and the American seal herd on the Pribilof Islands 
could be so rehabilitated that, under proper regulations, not less than 
100,000 seal skins annually could be taken that would yield the Gov- 
ernment not less than $1,000,000 in revenue yearly. 

The President of the United States being impressed with the urgent 
necessity of legislation along the lines set forth in the bill under dis- 
cussion saw lit on the 15th of this month to transmit to the Congress 
a special message regarding the critical condition of the fur-seal indus- 
try, which is made a part of this report and maiked *"' Exhibit A." 

The purpose of the present bill is to radically and completely change 
the policy heretofore pursued with regard to the fur seal. Under the 
policy now in existence this herd has diminished from 4,500,000 in 1867, 
to prolmbly about 60,000 at the present time. Instead of the leasing 
system heretofore provided for, the present bill proposes to put the 
control of the seals wholly within the jurisdiction of the Secretary of 
Commerce and Labor, giving him the right to establish closed seasons 
if he sees lit to do so, and giving him the right to kill such of the male 
seals as the experience of the past thirty years seems to justify. The 
bill prohibits pelagic sealing by American citizens absolutely north of 
the thirty-tif th parallel of latitude. The North American Commercial 
Company, whose lease expires April 30, iias certain equipment on these 
islands that the Government may tind it convenient to purchase, and 
provision is made in the bill to give the Secretary of Commerce and 
Labor the right at his discretion to purchase such of the equipment 
as, in his judgment, he may tind it convenient and necessary for the 
use of the Government in the future. 

••• l AfR 1910 



SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 3 

There is now on the Pribilof Islands a colony of Aleuts, transported 
to these islands from the mainland and the adjoining- islands, who have 
heretofore and are now utilized in connection with the taking- of the 
fur seal. The}' are wholly dependent, temporarih', at least, on this 
Government for their support and maintenance. It is estimated that 
they number about 300 persons. 

PELAGIC SEALING. 

The greatest evil at this time arises from what is called pelagic seal- 
ing-. The fur seals being- migratory in their habits, the}' spend about 
four months of each year, July, August, September, and October, on 
the Pribilof Islands, during- which time the females give birth to their 
young. During- the remaining- eight months of the year the seals take 
their annual mig-ration, the route in general leading- south westerl}^ from 
the i^ribilof Islands and extending- southward as far as San P^rancisco, 
the farthest point south being reached about the month of January, 
when the course of their migration turns again northward along the 
western coast of Alaska, ending at the Pribilof Islands some time in the 
month of July. It is estimated at the present time that the pelagic seal- 
ing fleet contains about 30 vessels, manned b}" about 1,200 men and 
using about 300 boats. The pelagic sealing tieet follows the route of 
the seals durino- their migration, killing them at sea in great numbers. 
The greatest killing, however, is done around the islands and close along 
the Pacific coast, from San Francisco up to Prince W illiam Sound. Dur- 
ing the breeding season, from July to October, the mother seals are 
obliged to leave the islands to go off shore from 60 to 100 miles in search 
of food. As soon as the mother seals leave the islands and get beyond 
the international jurisdictional limit the pelagic sealers kill them indis- 
criminately. The mother seal is ol)liged to run the gauntlet of this 
sealing fleet. The destruction of the mother seal means the starvation 
of the offspring on shore. During one season not less than 30,000 dead 
seal pups were counted on the Pribilof Islands whose mothers had been 
killed at sea by the pelagic sealers. 

PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS AT LEGISLATION TO PROTECT FUR SEALS. 

The committee feels that it would not be amiss to call attention to 
the fact that heretofore efi'orts have been made to enact new legisla- 
tion that would in some way prevent the total extermination of the 
fur seal. In 1896, the Hon. Nelson Dingley introduced H. R. 3206 
looking to the protection of the fur seal. After full debate it passed 
the House of Representatives unanimously on February 25. It was 
favorably reported by Senator Frye on March 4 and made a special 
order for March 11, but under urgent representation that "treatj'^ 
negotiations had been reopened," the bill did not pass the Senate. 

On February 2, 1903, the House of Representatives passed H. R. 
13387, but on February 12 of that year the bill failed of passage in the 
Senate, owing to representations made that the bill would not be needed 
as the fur-seal question was about to be settled by treaty negotiations. 

In 1903, a special subcommittee of Senators, consisting of Senators 
Dillingham, Nelson, Burnham, and Patterson, visited the Pribilof 
Islands and made an exhaustive report regarding the need of imme- 
diate legislation on the part of Congress. At the following session of 
Congress Senator Dillingham introduced a bill providing for a closed 



4 SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 

season, but the bill never received the favorable consideration of 
Congress. 

In conclusion, the committee would say that the present bill receives 
the complete approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor and 
the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Conmierce and Labor having 
appeared l)efore the committee and urging the necessity for imme- 
diate legislation. The bill was also referred to the Secretary of State, 
and has his approval. 

In order that a full comparison may be had of the provisions of the 
present proposed law with the laws now in existence relative to the fur 
seal, we have appended hereto, marked " Exhibit B," the sections of 
the present law as amended by the present bill; also the sections pro- 
posed to be repealed relative to the leasing of fur-seal privileges. 

The committee recommends the following amendments to the bill: 

On page 2, lino 12, .strike out all after the word " States,'' in said 
section. 

On page 7, line 2, strike out all of said line after the word ''islands;'^ 
also all of line 8, and the words "thereof and their heirs,'"" in line 4. 

At the end of the bill, section 10, strike out the period in line 25 
and insert in lieu thereof a semicolon, and add the following: "and 
there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not 
otherwise appropriated, the sum of one hundred and lifty thousand 
dollars, for carrying into effect the provisions of this act." 



Exhibit A. 

[Senate Document No. 430, Sixty-first Congress, second session.] 

To the Senate and House of Representatives: 

By the terms of section 1963, United States Revised Statutes, the Secretary of 
Commerce and Labor is directed, at the expiration of the lease which gives the 
North American Commercial Company the right to engage in taking fur seals on the 
islands of St. Paul and St. George, to enter into a new lease covering the same pur- 
pose for a period of twenty years. The present lease will expire on the 30th of 
April, 1910, and it is important to determine whether or not changed conditions call 
for a modification of the policy which has so far been followed. 

The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor unite in recom- 
mending a radical change of this policy. It appears that the seal herds on the 
islands named have been reduced to such an extent that their early extinction must 
be looked for unless measures for their preservation he. adopted. A herd numbering 
375,000 twelve years ago is now reduced to 134,000, and it is estimated that the 
breeding seals have been reduced in the same period of time from 130,000 to 56,000. 
The rapid depletion of these herds is undoubtedly to be ascribed to the practice of 
pelagic sealing, which prevails in spite of the constant and earnest efforts on the part 
of this Government to have it discontinued. 

The policy which the United States has adopted with respect to the killing of seals 
on the islands is not believed to have had a substantial effect upon the reduction of 
the herd. But the discontinuance of this policy is recommended in order that the 
United States may be free to deal with the general question in its negotiations with 
foreign countries. To that end it is recommended that the leasing system be aban- 
doned for the present, and that the Government take over entire control of the 
islands, including the inhabitants and the seal herds. The objection which has 
heretofore been made to this policy, upon the ground that the Government would 
engage in private business, has been deprived of practical force. The herds have 
been reduced to such an extent that the question of profit has become a mere inci- 
dent, and the controlling question has become one of conservation. 

It is recommended, therefore, that the prevision for a renewal of the lease be 
repealed, and that instead a law be enacted to authorize the Department of Com- 
merce and Labor to take charge of the islands, with authority to protect the inhabit- 
ants substantially as has been done in the past, and to control the seal herds as far 
as present conditions admit of, pending negotiations with foreign countries looking 



SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 5 

to the diBcontinuance of pelagic sealing. If this result can be obtained, as is confi- 
dently believed, there is every prospect that the seal herds will not only be pre- 
served but will increase, so as to make them a source of permanent income. 

A draft of a bill covering this matter has been prepared by the Secretary of Com- 
merce and Labor, and upon request will be submitted to the appropriate committees. 

Wm. H. Taft. 

The White House, March 15, 1910. 



Exhibit B. 
sections amended. 

No person shall kill any otter, mink, marten, sf^ble, or fur seal, or other fur-bearing 
animal within the limits of Alaska Territory, or in the waters thereof; and every 
person guilty thereof shall for each offense be fined not less than two hundred nor 
more than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both; 
and all vessels, their tackle, apparel, furniture, and cargo found engaged in violation 
of this section shall be forfeited; but the Secretary of Commerce and Labor shall 
have power to authorize the killing of any such mink, marten, sable, fur seal, or 
other fur-bearing animal under such regulation as he may prescribe; and it shall be 
the duty of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to prevent the killing of any fur 
seal except as authorized by law, and to provide for the execution of the provisions 
of this section until it is otherwise provided by law. 

The Pribilof Islands, including the islands of Saint Paul and Saint George, Wal- 
rus and Otter islands, and Sea Lion Rock, in Alaska, are declared a special reserva- 
tion for government purposes; and until otherwise provided by law it shall be 
unlawful for any person to land or remain on any of those islands, except through 
stress of weather or like unavoidable cause or by the authority of the Secretary of 
Commerce and Labor; and any person found on any of those islands contrary to 
the provisions hereof shall be summarily removed, and shall be deemed guilty of a 
misdemeanor punishable by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or by imprison- 
ment not exceeding six months, or by both tine and imprisonment; and it shall be 
the duty of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to carry this section into effect. 

It shall be unlawful to kill any fur seal upon the Pribilof Islands or in the waters 
adjacent thereto, except under the authority of the Secretary of Commerce and 
Labor, and it shall be unlawful to kill such seals at any time by the use of firearms, 
or by other means tending to drive the seals away from those islands; but the natives 
of the islands shall have the privilege of killing such young seals as may be necessary 
for their own food and clothing, and also such old seals as may be required for their 
own clothing and for the manufacture of boats for their own use; and the killing in 
such cases shall be limited and controlled by such regulations as may be prescribed 
by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. 

It shall be unlawful to kill any female seal, or any seal less than one year old, at 
any season of the year, except as above provided; and it shall also be unlawful to 
kill any seal in the waters adjacent to the Pribilof Islands, or on the beaches, cliffs, 
or rocks where they haul up from the sea to remain; and every person who violates 
the provisions of this or the preceding section shall be punished for each offense by 
a fine of not less than two hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or 
by imprisonment not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment; 
and all vessels, their tackle, apparel, and furniture, whose crews are found engaged 
in the violation of either this or the preceding section, shall be forfeited to the United 
States. 

No citizen of the United States, nor person owing duty of obedience to the laws or 
the treaties of the United States, nor any person belonging to or on board of a vessel 
of the United States, shall kill, capture, or hunt, at any time or in any manner what- 
ever, any fur seal in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, including Bering Sea and the 
sea of Okhotsk, whether in the territorial waters of the United States or in the open 
sea. 

SECTIONS REPEALED. 

When the lease heretofore made by the Secretary of the Treasury to "The Alaska 
Commercial Company," of the right to engage in taking fur-seals on the islands of 
Saint Paul and Saint George, pursuant to the act of July one, one thousand eight 
hundred and seventy, chapter one hundred and eighty-nine [R. S. 1957, 1960-1971, 



6 SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 

5293], or when any future similar lease expires, or is surrendered, forfeited, or termi- 
nated, the Secretary of Commerce and Labor shall lease to proper and responsible 
parties, for the best advantage of the United States, having due regard to the interests 
of the Government, the native inhabitants, their comfort, maintenance, and educa- 
tion, as well as to the interests of the parties heretofore engaged in trade and the 
protection of the lisheries, the right of taking fur-seals on the islands herein named, 
and of sending a vessel or vessels to the islands for the skins of such seals, for the 
term of twenty years, at an annual rental of not less than fifty thousand dollars, to 
be reserved in such lease and secured by a deposit of United States bonds to that 
amount; and every such lease shall be duly executed in duplicate, and shall not be 
transferable. 

The Secretary of Commerce and Labor shall take from the lessees of such islands 
in all cases a bond, with securities, in a sum not less than five hundred thousand 
dollars, (-onditioned for the faithful observance of all the laws and requirements of 
Congress, and the regulations of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, touching 
the taking of fur-seals and the disposing of the same, and for the payment of all 
taxes and dues accruing to the United States connected therewith. 

No persons other than American citizens shall be permitted, by lease or otherwise, 
to occupy the islands of Saint Paul and Saint George, or either of them, for the 
purpose of taking the skins of fur-seals therefrom, nor shall any foreign vessels be 
engaged in taking such skins; and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor shall 
vacate and declare any lease forfeited if the same be held or operated for the use, 
benefit, or advantage, directly or indirectly, of any persons other than American 
citizens. 

Every lease shall contain a covenant on the part of the lessee that he will not keep, 
sell, furnish, give, or dispose of any distilled spirits or spirituous liquors on either of 
those islands to any of the natives thereof, such person not being a physician and 
furnishing the same for use as medicine; and every revenue officer, officially acting 
as such, on either of the islands, shall seize and destroy any distilled or spirituous 
liquors found thereon; but such officer shall make detailed reports of his doings in 
that matter to the collector of the port. 

Every person who kills any fur-seal on either of those islands, or in the waters 
adjacent thereto, without authority of the lessees thereof, and every person who 
molests, disturbs, or interferes with the lessees, or either of them, or their agents or 
employes, in the lawful prosecution of their business, under the provisions of this 
chapter, shall for each offense be punished as prescribed in section nineteen hundred 
and sixty-one; and all vessels, their tackle, apparel, appurtenances, and cargo, whose 
crews are found engaged in any violation of the provisions of sections nineteen hundred 
and sixty-five to nineteen hundred and sixty-eight, inclusive, shall be forfeited to the 
United States. 

If any person or company, under any lease herein authorized, knowingly kills or 
permits to be killed, any number of seals exceeding the number for each island in 
this chapter prescribed, such person or company shall, in addition to the penalties 
and forfeitures herein provided, forfeit the whole number of the skins of seals killed 
in that year, or, in case the same have been disposed of, then such person or com- 
pany shall forfeit the value of the same. 

In addition to the annual rental required to be reserved in every lease, as provided 
in section nineteen hundred and sixty-three, a revenue tax or duty of two dollars is 
laid upon each fur-seal skin taken and shipped from the islands of Saint Paul and 
Saint George, during the continuance of any lease, to be paid into the Treasury of 
the United States; and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor is empowered to make 
all needful regulations for the collection and payment of the same, and to secure the 
comfort, maintenance, education, and protection of the natives of those islands, and 
also to carry into full effect all the provisions of this chapter except as otherwise 
prescribed. 

The Secretary of Commerce and Labor may terminate any lease given to any per- 
son, company, or corporation on full and satisfactory proof of the violation of any of 
the provisions of this chapter or the regulations established by him. 

The lessees shall furnish to the several masters of vessels employed by them certi- 
fied copies of the lease held by them respectively, which shall be presented to the 
government revenue-officer for the time being who may be in charge at the islands 
as the authority of the party for landing and taking skins. 



